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Players around the league have been keenly aware of the New York Knicks’ instability.
In the past 18 years, the franchise has gone through 10 coaches since Jeff Van Gundy left in 2001 and almost as many top executives, running through the likes of Isiah Thomas, Donnie Walsh and Phil Jackson.
President Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry are now at the helm of operations. Team owner James Dolan has been known to meddle in personnel decisions, but some agree that he has left the reins to Mills, his right-hand man.
There have been less than a handful of players willing to come through the doors of Madison Square Garden, with the last real star — Carmelo Anthony — being shunned from the team in a trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder, having made it abundantly clear he was no longer welcome.
Yet non-star players don't mind taking a hefty check from Dolan's hands, as the likes of Julius Randle, Wayne Ellington, Reggie Bullock, Taj Gibson, Elfrid Payton and Bobby Portis have done this summer after failing to make the bombastic signings of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving:
“I have not had a player say to me, ‘I don’t want to go to New York,’” Keith Glass, a sports agent with NBA clients told David Waldstein of The New York Times. “I’ve never had that. But I don’t represent stars. I represent the middle of the pack on down, so my guys are happy to get a paycheck, and they would love to play for the Knicks.”
The Knicks are inking a plethora of players to two-year deals, a clear sign they intend to build the roster with solid but not splashy signings — only to try again next summer and see if another at bat provides them better luck with their swing for the stars.
